Kung Fu Panda
is not getting karate-chopped by critics, who are mostly marshaling their
linguistic arts to express their indifference toward the movie. "Kung Fu
Panda is not one of the great recent animated films," writes Roger Ebert in
the Chicago-Sun Times. "But it's elegantly drawn, the action sequences
are packed with energy, and it's short enough that older viewers will be
forgiving." It's another animated feature whose message to kids is "Believe!"
Comments Manohla Dargis in the New York Times: "The screenplay by
Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger is ho-hum without being insulting, a grab bag
of gentle jokes, sage lectures, helpful lessons and kicky fights." "To make
something special, you just have to believe it's special," the title
character's father tells him. But Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street
Journal remarks, "To make a movie special it's not enough to have brilliant
animation. You have to believe in telling good stories." Not necessarily,
suggests Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News. "This is an
unashamedly old-fashioned children's movie, and a predictable message is part
of the mission," she writes. "But that's okay; what the movie lacks in
surprises, it makes up for in whimsical fun."
06/06/2008
See Also
